Various types of computing, entertainment, and/or mobile devices, such as tablets and mobile phones, can be implemented with a transparent or semi-transparent display through which a user of a device can view the surrounding environment. Further, augmented reality provides that a user can see through the transparent or semi-transparent display of a device to view the surrounding environment, and also see images of virtual objects that are generated for display to appear as a part of the environment. Augmented reality can include any type of input such as audio and haptic inputs, as well as virtual images, graphics, and video that enhances or augments the environment that a user experiences. As an emerging technology, there are challenges and design constraints with augmented reality, particularly with displaying the virtual objects and images on the display of a mobile device so that they appear realistic in the real environment.
Stereopsis is the perception of depth when a person views the environment with normal binocular vision. A person typically sees a slightly different image of the environment with each eye because angles from objects in the environment to the person's left and right eyes will be different, and the differences provide the cues to determine depth perception. This may also be referred to as a parallax, which is the angle difference in the apparent position of an object as viewed along two different lines of sight, such as from the person's left eye and from the right eye when viewing the object in the environment. For a far field object, there is typically zero parallax between a device display, as seen by the left and right eyes, and the far field object. However, when objects are closer, there is a parallax between the left and the right eyes.
Waveguide displays can be utilized for see-through augmented reality display devices, such in head-mounted display (HMD) glasses or other wearable display devices that have near-eye display panels as lenses to display a virtual image in an augmented reality environment. In a head-mounted display device, the separate display panels for the left and right eyes can be independently adjusted to provide correct stereopsis cues when viewing a near-field virtual object. However, stereopsis correction is not available for a mobile, handheld device with a single integrated waveguide display without the use of eye wear, such as LCD shutter glasses or polarized glasses. Having to utilize eye wear for corrected binocular vision when using a mobile, handheld device with an augmented reality display does not provide a viable user experience.